Austrian interior minister to step down in cabinet reshuffle

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, who has been the face of Vienna’s migration policy through the crisis is stepping down as part of the cabinet reshuffle, Austrian media reported Saturday.

State-run APA news agency and The Tiroler Tageszeitung report that Mikl-Leitner, a member of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) will become the governor of her home state of Lower Austria. The region’s finance minister Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) will take over the interior ministery.

The reports did not say when the swap will take place, but the Tiroler Tageszeitung reports it is likely to be confirmed on Sunday at a meeting of the ÖVP, which is part of the ruling coalition with the Social Democrats (SPÖ).

The Interior Ministry’ Spokesman Hermann Muhr did not confirm the swap but said that “it’s no secret that the minister’s heart pulls her back to Lower Austria.”

Mikl-Leitner, who took office in 2011, had a key role in Austria’s introduction of border fences, tightening of the asylum rules and in the plan that successfully shut down the Balkan migrant route.

It remains to be seen if a change of course on migration is to be expected by the Austrian government, which last week announced plans to send soldiers to its border with Italy to prevent migrants from entering the country from there.

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